Candidates for Secretary of State explain positions on voting

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - When voters head to the polls this Nov., they will be able to vote for Kentucky’s Sec. of State.

Former state Rep. Charles ‘Buddy’ Wheatley is running on the democratic ticket, and current Kentucky Sec. of State Michael Adams is once again representing the Republican ticket.

Kentucky’s Sec. of State serves as the head of Kentucky’s Department of State, which is home to three key offices:

1) The Office of Administration

The Office of Administration’s tasks include fiscal and personnel matters, legal affairs and special projects.

2) The Office of Business Services

The Office of Business Services’ tasks include business filings and records, trademark registrations and notary appointments.

3) The Office of Elections

The Office of Elections handles candidate filings and the collection of filing fees. The Sec. of State serves as the chief election official of Kentucky.

In the role of chief election official, Rep. Wheatley said he is running to expand early voting, to allow independents to vote in primary elections and to create an independent redistricting commission aimed at tackling partisan gerrymandering.

“These things are all the things that are going to lead to better voter turnout, free and fair elections and really increasing access to the polls.” said Rep. Wheatley.

Adams, who has held the office since 2020, said he is running on increasing election integrity, including to increase confidence in elections, support the use of voter ID and clean up voter rolls.

“We help prevent vote fraud in the names of people who passed away,” said Sec. Adams. “We make the lines shorter when you go to vote because the voter file is shorter, it takes less time when you check in to vote.”

Despite Wheatley running on the democratic ticket and Adams running on behalf of the Republican party, both candidates have expressed not just the desire, but the necessity, in working across the aisle.

“My background, my experience, my ability to work across the aisle and my relationship with the governor, I have a close, working relationship with the governor, those things will all be factors,” said Rep. Wheatley. “We’ll just work as hard as we can, put our message forward and we think the voters will make the right choices.”

The decision in Nov. is one Sec. Adams views as a referendum of his performance.

“I think what voters will make their decision on is a referendum on are they happy with the last four years, and I believe they are. I can’t go to Kroger or CVS or a restaurant without people coming up and thanking me for my work, especially democrats. They say, ‘I never voted for a Republican in my life and I’m voting for you.’ I’m real proud of that.

“We help prevent vote fraud in the names of people who passed away, but number two, we make the lines shorter when you go to vote because the voter file is smaller, it takes less time to find the voter when they check in to vote.”

To learn more about both candidates’ platforms, be sure to tune in to Kentucky Newsmakers Sunday morning at 10 a.m. on the CW Lexington and at 11:30 a.m. following Face the Nation.

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